What does the rise in gold prices mean for your real estate business?
You're a real estate agent. You've survived thus far in one of the most difficult periods in the real estate industry since the word REALTOR was trademarked back in 1950. Many of your colleagues have left the industry because they couldn't or didn't foresee the need to pare back expenses and find ways to continue to sell houses.
You're a survivor, and would have reason to be proud of that fact if only you had time to reflect. You don't, though, because this market eats up every second of your time, and you're scrambling to stay upright while the world you knew so well is shifting beneath your feet.
What does the rise in gold prices mean for your real estate business?
You don't have time to look at the commodities market. You're in real estate, after all. But that shift that's taking place requires your attention. Step back for a moment. Look at the bigger picture.
As the Federal Reserve prints more dollars, the value of those dollars declines. Supply and demand, just like the price of the homes you're selling. Increased supply of homes for sale (and the supply of bank owned homes continues to flood the market) means lower prices, and for the moment, interest rates are low too. You might be tempted to think that your business has actually hit a sweet spot. Avoid that temptation.
What does the rise in gold prices mean for your real estate business?
It means your business is about to change dramatically yet again, and perhaps sooner rather than later.
Gold futures hit a record high yesterday, briefly touching $1,049.70 an ounce. It's expected to go higher. And here's the takeaway: the price of gold forecasts inflation. It runs up before the inflation hits. In 1980, after a four year runup in the price of gold to more than $873, per ounce, inflation hit an annualized rate of nearly 15%. I remember it well, as I was a real estate developer at the time.
That 80's market took me bankrupt at age 41. One year prior, I had a net worth in real estate of $4 million, with debt of $1 million. I wasn't prepared.
Here's a list of the things I'm doing, courtesy of CrisisTimes.com, to make sure my business survives this next twelve months:
JOIN ME! We live in exciting times, and there's an abundance of opportunity.
___________________
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.
SUNSTREET MORTGAGE
Call me if I can help you or someone you know
with a purchase or refi mortgage.
(520) 349-9090
photo courtesy flickr /andrew in coins
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Fran,
Thanks for the reblog! I was at a business mixer this afternoon, and a man I didn't know approached me and asked "Do you write on the internet? Didn't I see an article about gold yesterday that you wrote?" Don't you love Active Rain?!